Sterilizer construction



Filed Nov. 14, 1944 L u u Patented May 24,1949

STERILIZER CONSTRUCTION Raymond L. Jewell, Erie, Pa., assignor to American Sterilizer Company, Erie, Pa..

Application November 14, 1944, Serial No. 563,365

4 Claims.

This invention relates to pressure sterilizers,

and more particularly to the body and door construction thereof, together with the manner of assembling the several parts of the sterilizer.

An object of the invention is found in the novel manner of forming the front edge of the sterilizer or body, which cooperates with the locking bars of the sterilizer closure.

Another object of the invention resides in the manner of attaching the inner and outer lconcentrically arranged sheets which form the sterilizer body, whereby they are readily attached to' the door holding ring or locking edge so that a pressure-tight joint is formed without unsightly welds showing from the exterior of the sterilizer, and to do away with the conventional cast ring which heretofore has formed the locking means for the doors.

In the accompanying drawings, the figure is a vertical longitudinal section of one form of the sterilizer showing the improved door construction and the manner of welding and concentric body plates and rear plate.

Specifically in the drawings, I and 3 denote spaced concentric walls which may be' cylindrical or in the form of a square with rounded edges. These horizontally arranged spaced walls or sheets define the inner boiler or annular steam jacket of this type of an autoclave sterilizer, and insofar as the spacing of the sheets, together with an end frame 5 and rear sheet l, is concerned, is conventional. The term annular as used herein with respect to the steam jacket is to be taken in its broad sense of ring-shaped, and therefore includes the space defined by body sheets or walls I and 3 of generally rectangular cross-section as well as those which are circular. The novelty of this invention includes the manner of fabricating the sterilizer walls I and 3 and the front end frame or ring 5 and the rear sheet or plate l, together with the improved construction of the pressure door frame and the manner of welding these units into an integral sterilizer structure. In the prior art sheets such as I and 3 have customarily been riveted to the inner and outer surfaces of a ring member, which is usually cast and therefore, necessarily, considerable machining is required. This ringmember is provided with a larger diameter integrally formed and spaced flange for holding the ends of door locking bars, such as 9rocking eccentrically and outwardly over a cam surface, such as I I, formed on the door closure I3. Also in the prior art the projected and movable closure arms 9 bind against the interior of the outer vange of the enlarged diameter spaced flange on the sheet ring. as before described, to press the door closure tight against the front surface of the end ring member, which normally is recessed for the purpose of holding a gasket, and cooperates with a, flange formed on the door closure for obtaining a tight seal. This prior construction is open to a number of objections, due mainly to the poor joint secured by the riveting of the lbody members I and 3 on the inner and outer sides of the annular flange of the end frame and the cost of the cast end frame, which must be machined to very close tolerances, in addition to the massiveness of the construction of such end4 frame or ring.

In the present instance the end frame or ring 5 takes the form of a simple rolled, continuous flanged member having an inturned rearedge I5 .forming the surface to which the sterillzer wall sheets I and 3 are attached. The forward spaced inturned edge I 7 is of comparatively short length as compared to theelongated rear edge I5 to provide the necessary clearance for the manually projected locking arms 9. These arms, when the door I3 is pivoted against the outer surface of the downturned ange I5, are moved eccentrically and outwardly by the hand Wheel I9 and associated mechanism indicated by numeral 2|. As this precise door bar projecting arrangement does not form a part of the invention, it is suicient to say when Athe door I3 is closed, hand wheel I9 is operated and through the associated mechanism the outer ends of arms 9 are projected radially yunder the front downturned flange I'I of the end'frame member 5, and, thereafter, the inner ends of the arms are moved inwardly so that they fulcrum over the surfaces II and press the packing or gasket 23 positioned in a recess 25 on the inner face of the door against the outer surface of the inturned flange I5. 'Sumcient pressure can be created in this manner to seal the door I3 and effectively prevent leakage from the inner sterilizing chamber 2l.

- As before stated the end ring or frame member 5 maybe readily fabricated, as by vrolling from any suitable material. Preferably the ring is formed of malleablevMonel metal, but such a ring or rounded corner, square configuration can be rolled or formed and does not have to be machined to any extent. A

In fabricating a sterilizer body of the type herein disclosed, theinner sheet 3 defining the sterllizer space 2'I is of an internal size substantially that of the diameter of the opening 29 of the ring member 5, and its elongated ange I5 and the shaped sheet 3 are welded .at 3| on the exterior 3 of the sheet at the point of juncture of the sheet end and flangef I5. The second step of fabrication comprises placing the head or end plate 1 against the opposite end of the body sheet 3 and welding the same at its point of juncture 33 with the end sheet, which as shown is less than the diameter of the head 1 as the sheet extends radially to the outer sheet I. After this preliminary fabrication `ls accomplished the outer v formed sheet I is then placed over the end plate 1 and pressed forwardly until its forward edge The outer sheet is J placed over therinsulation to hold it in place and to present a pleasing appearance and readily cleanable exterior.

I claim:

1. In a, sterilizer, the combination comprising a continuous -metal door frame having an approximately U-shaped cross section with parallel, inwardly directed long and short legs; a spaced pair of metal body sheets defining a steam jacket and a sterilizing chamber; closure means for the sterilizing chamber and the steam jacket fixedly secured to the body sheets at one end of the sterilizer, said `body sheets at the other end of the sterilizer being arranged with their entire corresponding ends continuously abutting -the outer face of the long leg of said door frame; and continuous welding seals extending around the respective ends of the body sheets and securing said sheets to the outer face of the long leg of said door frame.

2. In a sterilizer, the combination comprising a continuous metal door frame having an approximately U-shaped cross section with parallel, inwardly directed long and short legs of uniform thickness; a spaced pair of concentric metal body sheets dening an annular steam jacket and a sterilizing chamber; closure means for the sterilizing chamber and the steam jacket xedly secured to the body sheets at one end of the sterilizer, said body sheets at the other end of the sterilizer being arranged with their corresponding ends continuously abutting the outer face of the long leg of said door frame and with the inside of the inner sheet and the inner peripheral surface dened by said long leg being formed and arranged as smooth continuations of each other; continuous welding seals extending on the respective outsides of the body sheets and securing said sheets to the outer face of the long leg of said door frame; an insulating layer covering the outside body sheet; and a sheet metal layer extending over the insulating layer and the welding seal for the outside body sheet.

3. A sterilizer comprising a spaced pair of metal body sheets constructed and arranged to form a steam jacket; a continuous door frame having an approximately U-shaped cross section with inwardly directed long and short legs, said body sheets being arranged with their corresponding ends continuously abutting the outer face of the long leg of said door frame and with the inside of the inner sheet and the inner peripheral surface dened by said long leg being formed and arranged as smooth continuations of each other; continuous'sealing joints extending only on the respective outsides of the body sheets and securing said sheets to the outer face of the long leg-of said door frame; a removable door formed and arranged for Iclosing engagement with the inner faceof the long leg of said door frame; door locking means having relatively movable portions adapted to engage the inner face of the short leg ofv said door frame; and means constructed and arranged to close the sterilizer and steam jacket at the opposite ends of said body sheets.

4. A sterilizer comprising a concentric pair of metal body sheets constructed and arranged to form an annular steam jacket; a continuous metal door frame formed of malleable metal of uniform thickness and having an approximately U-shaped cross-section with inwardly directed long and short legs, said body sheets being arranged with on said door and having relatively movable portheir corresponding ends continuously abutting the outer face of the long leg of said door frame and with the inside of the inner sheet and the inner peripheral surface defined by said long leg being formed and arranged as smooth continuations of eachother; continuous Welded sealing joints extending only on the respective outsides of the body sheets and securing said sheets to the outer face of the long leg of said door frame; a removable door formed and arranged for closing engagement With the inner face of the long leg of said door frame; door locking means mounted tions adapted to engage the inner face of the short leg of said door frame and the outer side of said door; and means constructed and arranged to close the sterilizer and steam jacket at the opposite ends of said body sheets.

RAYMOND L. JEWELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 505,967 Sprague Oct. 3, 1893 571,541 Sprague Nov. 17, 1896 573,273 Kellogg Dec. l5, 1896 583,514 Sprague June 1, 1897 720,107 Brucker Feb. 10, 1903 1,673,010 Mauser June 12, 1928 1,771,638 Johnson July 29, 1930 1,930,551 Blasheld Oct. 17, 1933 1,965,736 Dillman July 10, 1934 2,071,621 Gettelman Feb. 23, 1937 2,274,319 Chesterman Feb. 24, 1942 

